The moment when I knew for sure that Gordon Brown rather than the Daily Telegraph was telling the truth about his cleaning bill was when I heard the testimony of the cleaner. In not so many words, she told friends that tidying up his flat, with its voluminous papers and books, was a nightmare!

Nowadays, the prime minister is doing a lot of clearing up of his own. He was right, weeks ago, to have started changing the House of Commons rules to restore the public's confidence in the system of MPs' allowances. And he is right now not to be sidetracked from sorting out the mess that has been left by the global banking crisis.

Of course, Brown and his party would prefer everything to go super smooth in his prime ministerial life. But if he is to be criticised for anything, I would prefer it to be about smiling on YouTube than handling the recession and the economic recovery.

On the day Gordon Brown asked me to rejoin his government last October, he sketched out the action plan that he was intent on pursuing. First, inject capital into the banks, find a way to address their impaired assets and act to ensure that viable businesses were not being starved of credit.

Second, mobilise an international response to slumping global demand. Third, use the power and resources of government to stand in the way of the downturn – not just to reduce its length and severity, but also to prevent it eating deeply into Britain's productive base.

What is striking about this list is his refusal to wobble, which speaks to his character. Other governments have followed Britain's lead in recapitalising their banking sectors. The London G20 summit agreed an international agenda for injecting demand and freeing up credit into the global economy. Through lending agreements with banks, the government has helped to guarantee the continued flow of credit in the economy.

Running through these past seven months has been a single conviction: that the government cannot stand aside, either in blunting the impact of the recession on homeowners and businesses and returning to full employment, or investing to increase the quality and productivity of the workforce and the national ­infrastructure.

Imagine for a moment how a Conservative administration, ideologically opposed to such a positive role for government, would have handled the events of the past year. Northern Rock would have been allowed to fail, regardless of the potential costs in lost deposits and financial panic.

There would have been no fiscal stimulus. No VAT cut to generate £8bn-£9bn in retail sales that would not otherwise have occurred. No frontloaded government capital spending to boost construction. No lift for hard-hit car manufacturers. And as for the G20, David Cameron can hardly bear to go near Europe, let alone find his way in the rest of the world.Instead, a Tory government would have stood aside, seeing the recession, as some shadow ministers have admitted in unguarded moments, as something that must just be allowed to take its course.

Of course, no one can be indifferent to the fiscal deficit, which is why chancellor Alistair Darling's reduction programme in the medium term is important. But what was the alternative to borrowing? The costs of recapitalising the banks were unavoidable. The rising costs of supporting jobseekers through the downturn are a non-negotiable part of a civilised society. The fiscal stimulus helped to put a floor under falling demand, preventing the much higher costs – and borrowing – of a deeper recession.

When the Tories criticise the government for shouldering new debt, they do not say which one of these courses of action they would have ruled out. They do not mention that, even with these higher levels of debt, the UK will not be unusual among developed economies.

No less importantly, their only answer to paying down that debt is to make large-scale, immediate cuts in public spending. This would not only signally fail to offer a route back to growth, but would be one step from a counsel of despair, as cutting investment to reduce borrowing bites straight into the very confidence and capabilities that Britain needs for future economic success.

The Tories take a substantial risk in shaping their entire politics around the reduction of borrowing. In light of this, Gordon Brown must stick to his guns. And as the recession takes its toll, he should recall the adage that sticks and stones may break his bones but words – however shrill and insulting – will never hurt him.

While the government is being tested by events, it will only ultimately be judged by results. It is too early to suggest so now, but in a year from now people will be asking not why the recession is so bad, but why it wasn't worse.

The credit will go to the combination of a prime minister and chancellor who understood the problems and followed reason, and made sure it was not worse, while David Cameron and George Osborne stood on the sidelines and merely carped.